Burlingame, the New Fro-yo Hot Spot

Fro-yo girl here. I stopped by Burlingame today to check on the future Tuttimelon (saw the temporary sign and I thought I took a picture of it but it didn't turn out) and future Blush. I saw workmen in both and the race is on to see which one will open first. Tuttimelon's always so fast!



I also spotted the Quickly fro-yo sign and when I crossed the street to get a better look, I noticed the Cherimoya Yogurt sign. At first I thought they came out with a new flavor, cherimoya (and I was intrigued, I'm still wondering what cherimoya fro-yo would taste like).



Actually, Cherimoya is the name of the new fro-yo shop that's taking over the Quickly space. They're going up against Blush, Tuttimelon and Harmony? I don't envy them at all.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Fro-yo Prices

Fro-yo girl here. I hadn’t been to Pinkberry in a few months and was surprised to see that they’d made many changes since my last visit, including new toppings, new fro-yo flavors and new pricing. Unlike most places that charge you for each topping, Pinkberry now has two prices: yogurt only and yogurt with toppings. The yogurt with toppings price is $1.45 higher than the yogurt only price and it comes with your choice of toppings. The $1.45 is about average for two toppings but now you can get even more than two toppings. The pricing clearly benefits those who like lots of different toppings on their fro-yo. Doesn’t almost everyone get toppings? Fro-yo just tastes better with toppings.

New Pinkberry Prices:
* Original: S ($2.50)/ with toppings $3.95; M ($3.50)/ with toppings $4.95; L ($5.50)/ with toppings, $6.95.
* Flavored: S ($3.50)/ with toppings $4.95; M ($4.50)/ with toppings $5.95; L ($6.50)/ with toppings, $7.95.

A friend of mine would prefer to have one topping included in the price and I see his point. If you charge for topping, the customer has to think about whether each additional topping is worth the price whereas a pricing bundle eliminates the perception that the toppings are extra.

Some Quickly locations advertise “99 cents unlimited toppings” and the new Market by Safeway in San Jose offers unlimited toppings for $1.

Speaking of pricing, I don’t understand why original is often cheaper than flavored. The original is usually the best flavor!

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* PINKBERRY: 742 State St, Santa Barbara, CA
* THE MARKET BY SAFEWAY: 100 S. 2nd St, San Jose, CA

Neighborhoods in San Francisco that Need Fro-yo

Fro-yo girl here. I recently had some not very good fro-yo in the Fisherman’s Wharf area (SF Yogurt) and it surprises me that a fro-yo shop opened up in the touristy Fisherman’s Wharf before opening in the following fro-yo less and fro-yo ready areas of SF:

* Outer Richmond: With all the Koreans and boba shops in this area, why is there no fro-yo shop? I just don’t understand it. I’ve had the urge for fro-yo several times in this area without being desperate enough to go to Quickly for fro-yo. Okay, so Quickly does offer fro-yo but I don’t think that really counts. Clement or Geary St. (near New May Wah) needs a proper fro-yo shop.
* Laurel Village: Frequented by families and professionals, the shopping center here would be perfect for fro-yo (or even ice cream). I can usually find parking here too, so I’m a frequent visitor. It’s also close enough to the lovely shops on Sacramento St.
* Hayes Valley: One of my favorite shopping areas, Hayes Valley is frequented by people who appreciate quality and sweet treats (e.g., Miette and Paulette Macarons). You can get cupcakes, macarons and candies here, so fro-yo should also be an option.
* Castro: My gay friend thinks fro-yo would be a huge hit. Maybe so. The foot traffic is impressive and many health conscious people visit (think of all the gyms in the area – fro-yo makes the perfect post workout treat).

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Quickly Froyo – Worth 59 cents?

Fro-yo girl here. I know this is old news but I’m still bothered by Quickly. On the one hand, they’re bringing fro-yo to many places that didn’t have fro-yo before. On the other hand, they come across as unprofessional, sloppy, and second-rate.

They need to have someone proofread their website which says: “a varietal selection of flavors and toppings dispensed daily for seriously health conscience customers” and “we believed customer are the foundation of the business, and while others focus on costs, margins, and profits, we focus on total satisfaction of every customer.”

First, I’m sure they’re profit driven as well though they are too cheap to hire a decent web designer. Second, the customer service I receive at Quickly is usually much worse than I receive at other fro-yo and tapioca shops. With over 126 reviews on Yelp, the Irving location averages 2 stars and many people complain about the service they received: http://www.yelp.com/biz/quickly-san-francisco-4

I first noticed the Quickly Fro-yo sign at their Irving Street location, which happens to be on the same block as Tuttimelon. Quickly’s tactics really bothered me – it’s fair to undercut Tuttimelon on price but they stood in front of Tuttimelon handing out their flyers.

At 59 cents for a small cup of original tart fro-yo is a price that’s difficult to resist – by far the cheapest around. Their frozen yogurt was developed in cooperation with Dreyer’s and is, according to promotional materials, not made out of a powder mix. It is milky, creamy and softer than usual. The flavor is okay, not great, not horrible.

Tuttimelon’s original tart (99 cents for a small) is much better tasting than Quickly’s and Tuttimelon also is more generous with both fro-yo and toppings. Quickly sometimes has stale toppings, like dried out mochi balls. Despite Quickly’s tactics, Tuttimelon is still more popular.

Some (perhaps all?) of the Quickly locations now require you to buy at least one topping in order to get the 59 cents promotional price. Sneaky. Is it worth 59 cents for a small fro-yo? Probably so if you’re desperate and there’s nothing else around. Would I pay over $2 for a small cup of their fro-yo? Definitely not.

You can find Quickly cafes that serve Quickly fro-yo by checking their website: http://www.quicklyfroyo.com/locations

They hope to open stand alone Quickly Fro-yo shops worldwide, including locations in SF and San Mateo. The stand alone stores will have more than one fro-yo flavor (right now I’ve only see the original flavor).

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.